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Pit latrine death

Santa Rosa to meet on building new sanitary block

A meeting that was planned for yesterday by residents of Santa Rosa on a proper sanitary block for their school was postponed to Monday after the Minister of Education said he was unable to attend.

The sanitary block has been a burning issue for Santa Rose since nine-year-old Tenesha De Souza lost her life after falling into a pit latrine at the school.

Chairman of the Parent-Teachers Association (PTA) Mark Atkinson on Thursday told Stabroek News that he received a call from Minister Shaik Baksh early that morning and was informed that he was unable to attend the planned meeting.

A disappointed Atkinson said that when the news was relayed to the rest of the community, most of whom were under the impression that the minister would have attended, they all expressed disappointment as they felt that the matter was important enough to warrant his presence. Atkinson said that the community is “upset that the minister is not coming.” He said because the minister could not attend the meeting they pushed it back to Monday even though the minister would still not be attending.

According to Atkinson the minister told him that his ministry cannot make any donation towards the building of the sanitary block until next year when they get their budgetary allocation. In turn, he said he informed the minister that they cannot wait until next year’s budget to build a sanitary block for the children as they are concerned for their well-being at present. He said the minister then told him to go ahead and accept donations and let the PTA build the sanitary block.

“But they [the ministry] is supposed to help us and the minister said he was too busy to attend the meeting,” Atkinson said.
Baksh at a recent press conference had stated that $1 million was donated to the school under the Education For All-Fast Track Initiative Programme (EFA-FTI) to be used to build additional classrooms and a sanitary block. Atkinson has since said that the money is woefully inadequate to build a proper sanitary block for the children.

Tenesha’s father, Marlon De Souza, also speaking to Stabroek News on Thursday expressed disappointment over the minister’s unavailability to attend the meeting. “I can’t describe how I feel right now, it is like we are being left out, Santa Rosa is being left out, we are showing concern and nobody else showing concern,” he said.

A committee member of the PTA, Arnold James, also speaking to Stabroek News said that the community expected the minister to visit the area and they were all disappointed that he indicated his inability to attend. “We are really kind of frustrated and we have to find a way to go ahead and build the toilets, we need to do something,” the man said. “We need to get people in a positive mood, we are trying to get the sand into the school compound, it is hard but we are trying and we would work towards building the toilets,” he said.

Atkinson said that while they have some sand they need some more and according to him some business persons have promised to assist them and he hopes they would keep their promise. He said he also received a call from someone in England who indicated their willingness to help. The chairman appealed to the public at large to assist the school in building the sanitary block as they do not want any other child to suffer the same fate as Tenesha.

The PTA has already received a donation of some toilet bowls and plumbing material from the Alliance For Change (AFC) and Atkinson said they plan to use these when building the sanitary block. When the AFC had announced its intention to make the donation Minister Baksh had said they could not make the donation unless they got permission. However, the AFC donated the items to the PTA and not the school, and they were accepted by Atkinson and other parents.

At Monday’s meeting Atkinson said he would depend on the residents to tell him what is the way forward as he feels they need a forum to make their voices heard.

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15 Responses to “Pit latrine death”

coolieman
on October 11th, 2008 9:58 am

Real politics at play while the children suffer, now that the PTA got the permission from the minister they should call on the AFC to finish the job as they are the one that started this problem, the PTA should involve the govt and the minister in the first place because its the govt responsibility than to play politics with the AFC , maybe they were happy to see their photo in the media, getting the work done now will expose them to a lot more photos

[Reply to this]
M. Xiu Quan-Balgobind-Hackett
In reply to the above comment on October 11th, 2008 11:41 am:
The AFC started the problem. I thought the problem started when the girls fall into the latrine pit when the teachers of the school had flush toilet for donkey ages and the nursery school also has toilets. Santa Rosa is not some new village that just build the other day. It is the oldest Amerindian community in Guyana and if you ever visited it, it is as develpoed as the rest of Guyana. How hard was it for the authorities to store the rain water from the roof of the school in tanks and use it to flush the toilets. Did it have to wait for the death of a girl?

[Reply to this]
coolieman
In reply to the above comment on October 11th, 2008 1:35 pm:
My friend Balgobin its the AFC who started the problem by taking their politics to the school, if its not politics then tell me why the AFC is not donating toilet bowls to other needy schools that do not have flush toilets or are they waiting for another child to fall and die then they will take their politics to that school to get some attention, the AFC is being paid by taxpayers to travel the whole country and see what the citizens need and their problems and take it to the govt to act if they fail then rally the people to vote them out, further more it is the opposition duty to report before the death of that child that the school needs a flush toilet that is what they are being paid for
Richard Lewis
on October 11th, 2008 11:26 am

Hello my friend Coolieman, I like your suggestion of letting the AFC run the show. How about getting the government to step aside permanently and allowing the AFC their chance at (mis)management. And while at it why not ask the PNC to go along with the PPP (to the sideline).

[Reply to this]
Buxton Spice
on October 11th, 2008 2:28 pm

I really felt sad when I read about that little girl recently. I grew up in the country with the yard latrines. I could easily fallen in one of them was it not for the grace of God. TO THE POWERS THAT BE, please provide proper toilet facilities for the kids. I am sure that other kids who never thought of the danger of falling in a pit before must be concerned now. Please do something to alleviate their fears/concerns.

[Reply to this]
M. Xiu Quan-Balgobind-Hackett
on October 11th, 2008 2:53 pm

So. according to coolieman, the AFC donating toilet bowls is a bigger problem than a child falling into a latrine pit. Talk about misplaced proprities.

[Reply to this]
M. Xiu Quan-Balgobind-Hackett
on October 11th, 2008 2:55 pm

It is the duty of the MOE to do what coolieman wants the AFC to do, what are they being paid for? There is a school manual that prescibes the no. of toilets (FLUSH) per child that existed long before there was an AFC.

[Reply to this]
urboss
on October 11th, 2008 3:16 pm

when will kids stop playing games and act like adults?

[Reply to this]
On the look out
In reply to the above comment on October 11th, 2008 7:31 pm:
that is what kids do — play games. Why would you want kids to act like adults?

[Reply to this]
M. Xiu Quan-Balgobind-Hackett
In reply to the above comment on October 12th, 2008 3:56 am:
Adults play more games, and well-funded, too, than kids. Playing games is a big thing for adults.
Fulano de Tal
on October 11th, 2008 4:47 pm

Why am I not surprised!?!?! The minister doesn’t have time with you guys until “stupid season” comes around to garner votes & some of you will give it to them. It’s nonetheless unbelieveable that he expects the shituation to remain the same until next year,knowin fully well that the budget is almost always delayed. It amazes me that the president is needed for workers who did their do for Carifesta to be paid & a minister cannot be present at a meeting for womething that falls within his portfolio. I guess I lack what it takes to be a polit(r)ician or understand polit(r)ics.

[Reply to this]
berry
on October 11th, 2008 6:37 pm

he is probably angry that the PTA took the flush toilets , when he had instructed otherwise. but he should know that it is the lives of our innocent children that is involve and leave politics out of it

[Reply to this]
Caesar
on October 11th, 2008 8:37 pm

Nobody is asking who is, or are the individuals concerned, with regards to maintaining school facilities. We need a name or names to run this incompetent individual or individuals out in the open.

[Reply to this]
Balla345_ky
on October 12th, 2008 12:51 am

The government comes from among the people< the government is the people, you all are at fault… You are pointing fingers in the opposite directions but why not look into yourselves and find some solutions to the cancer that is eating away at every fibre of your society…… The PTA did not see the need to have proper facilities in place? No one could not think of having a fund-raiser to put the necessary facilities in place? Come on people… Do not wait on the Government to do everything, whay you all can do, do it then complain or riot i so be the case but do what you can do for yourselves……..REMEMBER THE GOVERNMENT CAME FROM AMONG YOU ALL AND IF THEY ARE FUL L CRAP THAT SIMPLE MEANS???????????

BALLA HAVE SPOKEN

[Reply to this]
Guy Marco
on October 12th, 2008 3:15 am

What a big slap on the Morucans.
Former Minister of Amerindian Affairs - Vibert De Souza - in 1992 - told a groups of us - the Amerindians -at a meeting held at Dr. Norton’s Optical in Georgetown - that the Amerindians will be better from then on. I got up and told him that we will still be in the same place because ‘they’ were only using us (him) as pawns in the chess of partican politics.
Sixteen (16) years later young Morucan -Tenesha De Souza ( I am sure was his relative) die in a most horrible way.
Morucans and others, if you people cannot be awaken by the cry of Tenesha and others in Mazaruni who were burnt to death, I don’t know what else will.

[Reply to this]